Insadong

On the way back from Mongolia we had our typical 9 hour lay over... this time- with three colleagues- it was worthwhile taking a trip into Seoul and seeing a bit of Insadong, the old centre of Seoul, well an old centre of Seoul.

We started off at the Dumpling Koong a very famous dumpling restaurant in the middle of Insadong

The meal starts off with three kinds of kimchi: the standard cabbage, radish (gakdugi), and watery, non-spicy radish (mul kimchi).

The boiled North Korean dumplings ( mandu) are substantial pouches stuffed mostly with ground pork, tofu, and chives. Although fat and plump, they're not heavy; the skin is thin but not as thin as Chinese dumplings with just a bit of chew, and the filling is satisfyingly light.These KaeSoong dumplings were succulent and very tasty- although the dumpling was the same- whether in soup, on its own or with rice cake.

This is before we started eating, smiles played over everyone's faces once we tasted the KaeSong dumplings.

After that it was time for a walk around Insadong

I enjoyed the dragon beard candy "acts" along the main road- it appears they have all been featured doing their "show" on various Korean TV channels. It consists of many very fine strands of sugar, giving it the imagined appearance and consistency of a fine beard, like that of a dragon – hence its name. 

 I also had a very nice Mulberry smoothie to assist my complexion

And then we rejoined to have some more food- bulgogi- well sort of. We retraced our steps back to the main road and found a quaint old barbeque restaurant.

Its called the parksee Moolkoo on Jebee- i looke dit up ont he internet and its name draws inspiration from a Korean legend about a sparrow that rewards a kind farmer with magical fruit.

the leather bankette where we sat has its own small water feature.

and we had a large plate of bulgogi with chilli sauce, and

 and enormous plate of sea food with rice cakes- both were delicious

then it was time to sit in the rush hour and crawl back to Incheon Airport.